SF ‘Vultures’ listening party offers rare glimpse of Kanye West, Ty Dolla $ign
Ye (Kanye West) and Ty Dolla $ign perform at Chase Center in San Francisco on March 12, 2024. Matt Pang/STAFF.
SAN FRANCISCO — Controversial rap superstar Kanye West brought his Vultures listening party to an enthusiastic and sizable crowd at Chase Center Tuesday night. The event, which featured Ty Dolla $ign, West’s primary collaborator on Billboard-200-topping album Vultures 1, felt like a music video with the performance area on the floor of the arena completely cleared and a circle of fabric draped at the center where video of the performers was projected during the show.
Dressed all in black, Ye and Ty Dolla $ign danced and gestured to the crowd as the sound system labored to deliver the album’s heavy bass blasts at levels as loud as jet engines (130 decibels, according to one phone app measurement).
Notably, Ye wore a black sweatshirt that spelled out Adidas, but in Russian, phonetically. He’s been feuding with the shoe company since 2022, when it dropped West after he made a number of antisemitic comments. In recent days, he’s accused it of stealing his shoe designs.
The crowd danced and sang along to songs from the album, including “Stars” and “Keys to My Life.” The two rapped along to backing tracks, as has been customary at this spate of events labeled as listening parties rather than traditional concerts.
West’s 10-year-old daughter, North, wearing a ushanka hat, joined her father for her verse on “Talking” early in the concert and returned during a later segment. The crowd responded to both appearances with raucous cheering. Among attendees at the show were ex-wife Kim Kardashian and current wife, model Bianca Censori, who sat side by side, singing along.
Later in the show, the two rappers told the crowd to put their fingers in the air.
“This is the number one song in world right now!” Ye yelled.
A short blast from the intro to “Carnival” sent the crowd into a frenzy, as did rapper Rich the Kid’s appearance on stage. Eventually, Ye removed his hockey-style mask and energized the crowd by circulating around the edge of the arena floor while dancing and gesturing to the audience.
After running through all of the tracks from the new album, Ye and Ty Dolla $ign ran through a handful of unreleased material from their forthcoming follow-up, Vultures 2, including “Slide,” Field Trip” and “Matthew,” though it was difficult to make them out amid the bass thumps and crowd noise.
The final show segment had the duo dancing along to a spate of his greatest hits, including “Runaway” and “All of the Lights” from his 2010 album, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, as well as “Can’t Tell Me Nothing” from 2007’s Graduation and “In Paris,” from his 2011 collaboration with Jay-Z. The show ended abruptly during “Heartless,” which was stopped midway through.
Attendees lining up for doors earlier in the evening said they were excited for the opportunity to see Kanye West.
“He’s the greatest rapper in the world, and I’ve never had the chance to see him live,” 20-year-old Daly City resident Darius Childs said.
Several of the people we spoke with pointed out that because of their age, this was their first opportunity to see the controversial superstar.
“We’ve been following Kanye since we were back in high school. He’s had a little hiatus from touring, so this is one of the first times he’s back in San Francisco after all that, so it’s definitely an exciting time, and even though it’s just a listening party, just to be in his presence is really exciting,” said Kent Hsiu of San Francisco, who attended with two friends.
Many of the people attending the event were willing to overlook the rapper’s controversies—it was at such a similar listening party event in 2022 that he made public antisemitic remarks—in favor of his genius as an artist.
“I’m excited to see him. I honestly wanted to see him in high school, but back then we were young and couldn’t really afford these concerts,” said Nathan Ka, of San Francisco, who attended with Hsiu. “So now that we’re grown up, it’s cool to spend our money to really experience it. It’s kinda late though, because I feel he is sort of at the end of his career, but it should still be fun.”
As with other Ye and Ty Dolla $ign listening parties, San Francisco’s was independently produced. Last week, news publication Hits Daily Double reported that the country’s two largest concert producers, Live Nation and AEG, declined to partner with Ye to stage concerts. Nonetheless, Ye and Ty Dolla $ign have clearly shown they are able to fill arenas without the major concert promoters. And the album debuted atop the Billboard 200, making it the 11th time Kanye West has reached the top of the albums chart. It was the first for Ty Dolla $ign.
The San Francisco listening party began about 30 minutes past its listed time, which was not unusual for Ye. Some attendees who had been allowed onto the floor prior to the start of the event were told by venue security to move. The gates onto the floor were also closed just before the start of the show, with some directed instead to seats in the third level of Chase Center.
During the wait, the crowd chanted “Fuck Adidas.”
- Rich The Kid performs at Chase Center in San Francisco on March 12, 2024.
- Ye (Kanye West) performs at Chase Center in San Francisco on March 12, 2024.
- Ye (Kanye West) performs at Chase Center in San Francisco on March 12, 2024.
- Ye (Kanye West) performs at Chase Center in San Francisco on March 12, 2024.
- Ye (Kanye West) performs at Chase Center in San Francisco on March 12, 2024.
- North West performs at Chase Center in San Francisco on March 12, 2024.
- Ye (Kanye West) and Ty Dolla $ign perform at Chase Center in San Francisco on March 12, 2024.
- Ye (Kanye West) performs at Chase Center in San Francisco on March 12, 2024.
- Ye (Kanye West) and Ty Dolla $ign perform at Chase Center in San Francisco on March 12, 2024.
- Ye performs at Chase Center in San Francisco on March 12, 2024.
- Ye (Kanye West) and Ty Dolla $ign perform at Chase Center in San Francisco on March 12, 2024.
- Ye, Ty Dolla $ign and Rich The Kid perform at Chase Center in San Francisco on March 12, 2024.
- Ye (Kanye West) and North West perform at Chase Center in San Francisco on March 12, 2024.
- Ye (Kanye West) and Ty Dolla $ign perform at Chase Center in San Francisco on March 12, 2024.
- Ye (Kanye West) and Ty Dolla $ign perform at Chase Center in San Francisco on March 12, 2024.
Editor Roman Gokhman contributed to this story. Follow photographer Matt Pang at Twitter.com/mattpangs.